Tag: MEDICAL

Researchers at Harvard University and MIT have developed a handheld scanner that can detect potential cancer cells and diagnose them with an iPhone app -- all in about an hour. According to Physorg, the scanner uses antibodies and magnetic particles to identify suspicious lumps. But rather than biopsy the entire mass, the scanner, which costs just $200 to create, extracts cells from all over ...

Here are a few of the other noteworthy things we saw today on our never-ending journey through the wild, wild Web. Read: Texting While Birthing A sheet was draped in front of her, protecting the sterile field while shielding her eyes from the cutting below, none of which she could presumably feel, except for vague sensations. In the woman's left hand, she held a cell phone-which she was using ...

Detecting potential skin cancer cells is an inexact process that depends on a doctor identifying a suspicious mole before waiting a few weeks for the biopsy results to come back from a lab. But according to Technology Review, scientists at the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BBCA) have developed a handheld wand that could help doctors instantly identify melanoma by scanning the molecular makeup of ...

President Obama has devoted up to $27 billion in federal funds to digitize health records at hospitals across the country, but a new study suggests that he probably shouldn't bother. In the nationwide study, a team of researchers from Stanford University analyzed data from more than 250,000 patient visits between 2005 and 2007. According to their findings, digital record-keeping systems didn't ...

While surgical robots are much more precise than clunky human hands, the surgeons who use these devices aren't able to guide the 'bots with their natural sense of touch, and this can make it easier to bump into a delicate organ or artery. In response to this problem, some graduate engineering students at the University of Washington recently developed an Xbox 360 Kinect hack, which uses the ...

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is going on a leave of absence, in order to devote more attention to his health. In an e-mail sent to all Apple employees, Jobs confirmed that the company's board of directors had obliged his request for medical leave, but assured that he wasn't relinquishing his position. "I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company," he wrote. In ...

For many people, the mere sound of a dentist's drill starting up is enough to make them sweat and panic. But researchers have created a new device that cancels out the drill's high-pitched whir while allowing patients to hear the dentist's voice. According to BBC News, the device, which was developed jointly at King's College London, Brunel University and London South Bank University, contains ...

The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money, or technology, many of those products never move from the planning stages to the mass market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over their creations, nevertheless. Getting ...

Implantable chips offer seemingly infinite healing possibilities, particularly for the blind, the disabled and those who suffer from Parkinson's Disease. Australian scientists now believe a developmental chip could offer tantalizing benefits for sufferers of another affliction. According to Popular Science, National ICT Australia recently revealed its design for "a smart chip that, when embedded ...

In studying cell phones' effects on human health, University of California Los Angeles researchers have concluded that pregnant mothers who use cell phones are more likely to have children with behavioral problems. Although lead researcher and epidemiologist Dr. Leeka Kheifets is reticent to say that cell phone exposure causes such problems, she did tell Reuters: "It is hard to understand how such ...

Prosthetic limb technology continues to advance at an astounding rate. Despite incredible developments like mind-control capabilities and super-hero implants, two -- albeit incredibly different -- areas still remain vastly underdeveloped: animal-inspired limbs and submersible prosthetic swimming equipment. Bionic paws for cats do already exist, and scientists actually fitted one double-amputee ...

Today, a cardiologist in England will attempt to become the world's first doctor to execute a heart operation via a remotely controlled robotic arm and advanced 3-D mapping technology. The doctor, André Ng, is scheduled to perform an operation to correct an irregular heart rhythm, called atrial fibrillation (AF), in a 63-year-old man. To pull off the feat, he'll be using the Amigo ...

Scientists persistently pursue the development of effective robotic caretakers, and the Georgia Institute of Technology just significantly upgraded the capabilities of such service-bots. The Georgia Tech engineers reportedly utilized a "Segway omnidirectional mobile base, two anthropomorphic arms with seven degrees of freedom and wrists equipped with 6-axis force/torque sensors" to create Cody the ...

Thanks to British research, you may soon be able to test yourself for sexually transmitted infections with nothing more than your smartphone and a wee bit of wee-wee. The U.K. Clinical Research Collaboration has funneled more than $6 million into developing a computer chip that, once dabbed with urine or saliva, can be plugged into a smartphone to render a diagnosis. ...

As our fearless Jon Chase noted mere days ago, the robots will conquer the world by first earning the trust of our children and old folks. As befits the country that brought smallpox to our northeastern shores, a laboratory in Bristol, England is developing the race of robo-nurses that will inevitably turn hospices into hostage situations. A joint project between the University of Bristol and ...